Karl Marx

"The worker puts his life into the object, and his life then belongs no longer to himself but to the object. The greater his activity, therefore, the less he possesses." p.74 from Alienation and Social Classes

In this causal argument, the dependent variable is the worker's possessions. This value can be low or high, and ranges greatly. In the greater context of Marx's piece, the meaning of this variable is really the worker's self-control . Marx argues that the proletarian has control over his or her finances, individuality, human nature, and so on. The independent variable in this argument is the amount of labor a worker undertakes. This value can also be either high or low. A proletarian can accomplish a great deal of work or remain unproductive. As the amount of labor a worker completes increases, the amount a worker possesses decreases. The more labor a worker performs, the less he or she has ownership of.

Cover of the Communist Manifesto’s initial publi...

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

Karl Marx birthplace in Trier, Germany - Brückens...

This relationship occurs this way because of the inequalities between social classes. The bourgeoisie has a great deal of control over the proletariat, and therefore the proletariat devotes his or her time and effort to production for the business owners. When this happens, the worker loses control over his independence in the work place. By simply being a member of an inferior social class, the proletarian gives into that status because the bourgeois directs his or her actions, ultimately causing the proletarian to become socially alienated, not take advantage of the goods he is producing, and lose control over his or her actions.

This causal argument relates closely the pre-theoretical assumptions regarding power relations, problem of action, and problem of order. Regarding power relations, Marx is a conflict theorist. He believes that people are constantly in opposition with one another. In The Manifesto...